Safety razor



Filed June 15, 1938 4 INVENTOR BY ,ezyiozz zgr i lfi- A TTORNE Y6;-

Patented Oct. '22, 1940 UNITED (STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY iuizon Leighton Detroit, Mich. Application June 15, ms, Serial No. 21am 2 Claims. (01. 3 -49) of a safety razor having a curved cutting edge' and in which substantially all of the undersurface of the blade is exposed whereby to prevent clogging and to facilitate cleaning particularly when employed for shaving relatively long hairs or for paring callouses or corns; the provision of a non-clogging safety razor having one or more curved cutting edges and in which the blade of the razor is also curved transversely to the cutting edges in order to facilitate manipulation of the razor at a cutting rather than at a scraping angle; the provision of a safety razor employing a thin wafer-like type of blade so constructed and arranged as to curve the blade both transversely and longitudinally whereby to render the same sufliciently rigid to eliminate the necessity of clamping the blade between a pair of rigid plates; and to provide a razor of the type described embodying a minimum number of parts and that may be economically manufactured.

The above being among the objects of the present invention the same consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and then claimed,

having the above and other objects in view.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates a suitable embodiment of the present invention and in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several different views,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of my improved safety razor; Fig. 2 is a partially broken, partially section side elevational view of the razor shown in Fig. 1

taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; g

Fig, 3 is a'transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the razor shown in Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the blade shown employed in the razor shown in the preceding views.

Referring to the drawing the blade holding plate of the razor is indicated generally at l0 and as indicated in Fig. 4 of generally rectangular formation. Also as best indicated in Fig. 4 notches l2 are provided in opposite ends thereof to expose the ends of and, therefore, facilitate the removal of a blade therefrom. The opposite side edges of the blade holding plate ID are each provided with'an elongated slot l4 in parallelism therewith and in slightly inwardly spaced relation with respect to the extreme outer edges thereof whereby to form at each edge a guard bar It connected to the holder plate ill at each end by relatively narrow arms or strips it formed integrally with the holder plate i0 and guard bars l8 and serving to rigidly maintain the desired relation of the guard bars IS with respect to the holder platejlll. As indicated best in Figs.

1 and 2 the guard bars Ii are downwardly and outwardly spaced with respect to the outer edges of the holder plate in at the inner edges of the F corresponding slots l4 therein, the connecting portions I! being bent downwardly and outwardly to eflect this result as best indicated in Fig. 2.

As brought out in Figs. 1 and 2 the holder plate I. and .particularly the lower or inner surface thereof is curved both longitudinally and transversely thereof to present a concave inner or lower face. An inwardly or downwardly projecting stud 20 is rigidly fixed with rapect to the holder plate l0 centrally of the concave side 2 thereof and is adapted to threadably receive an end of the handle 22 thereon.

The blade 24 is positioned against the inner concave surface of the holder plate 10 and is maintained in position thereagainst by the upper or outer end of the handle 22. The blade 24 which is shown in detail in Fig. 5 is of the thin wafer-like type conventionally employed in connection with many conventional types of safety razors and in-its free state includes a pair of substantially parallel cuttingedges 26 at the opposite longitudinal sides thereof. It is provided with a central aperture 28' for reception of the stud 20 and with a slot 30 at each end thereof centrally of the longitudinal cutting edges of the blade and which slots extend from the outer edge of such end inwardly towards the aperture 20 but to a point. outwardly spaced therefrom. The four comers of the blade 24 are notched as at 32 so as to limit the length of each of the cut- 5 ting edges 26.to a dimension slightly less than the length of the slots l4 and so that the narrow marginal end portions of the blade thus provided will flt between the opposite arms It at opposite ends of the holder III as best illustrated in Fig. 3. The width of the blade, that is the dimension between opposite cutting edges 26, is slightly less than the dimension between the inner edges of the opposite guard bars It so that the blade 24 may be readily applied to the concave face of the holder ll between the guard bars l4 and the cutting edges 26 will project into the areas defined by the slots l4. The notched corners 32 of the blade 24 in receiving the various arms I! therein is thereby properly located with respect to the holder blade II so as tcbring the cutting edges l6 into proper relation with respect to the slots I4 and guard bars I.

It will be observed that the end surface of the handle 22 which bears against the under or inner side of the blade 24 to press the blade 24 against the under or inner face of the holder plate I. is of relatively limited area. Such limited or small area is due to the fact that the width or diameter of the end of the handle which engages the blade is less than one-half of the narrowest width of the blade, as'clearly shown in the drawing. It will also be understood that the blade 24 in its natural unconfined state is perfectly flat and when first applied to the holder plate ID with the stud 20 received in the aperture 28 thereof, and because of the longitudinal curvature and transverse curvature of the holder plate I 0, will contact the holder plate In only at the extreme corner portions of the blade. When thus assembled if the handle 22 is then threaded down onto the stud 20 the limited end surface area of the handle 22 will cause the central portion of the blade 24 to be moved into contact with the corresponding area of the lower or under surface of the holder l0 and will tend to cause the blade 24 to conform to the curvature of the undersurface of the holder l0 both longitudinally and transversely thereof.

It will, of course, be understood by those skilled in the art that it is impossible to make a solid and unperforated sheet of thin material such as the blade 24 is formed from, and particularly where the material is of the hardness and, there: fore, the brittleness commonly found in waferlike types of razor blades, to conform in part to a spherical surface without rupturing the sheet. The blade 24 is provided with the slots 30 so that the blade 24, in being forced into a curved condition both longitudinally and transversely thereof upon screwing home of the handle 22, will be able to yield sufficiently to cause it to substantially conform to the concave inner surface of the holder Ill. The extreme end portions of the blade 24 on opposite sides of the slots 30 in such case will actually approach each other under the forces thus set up and cause the outer ends of the slots 30 to be materially reduced in width, while the cutting edges 26 of the blade 24 will be caused to substantially conform to the longitudinal curvature of the holder III at the inner edges of the slots l4 and the curvature of the blade transversely of its length will generally conform to the transverse curvature of the holder l0. However, due to the stresses set up in the blade 24 when thus forced into curved condition, there will be material areas of the blade 24 which will notbe forced into full contact with the concave face of the holder l0 when the blade is clamped in position. Any attempt to effect this result as by the provision of a clamping plate movable by the handle 22 to clamp the blade 24 between it and the holder I2 would result in setting up stresses of sufficient magnitude in the tempered blade to fracture the blade as the handle is screwed home.

By limiting the clamping area to the end surface of the handle 22 in accordance with the present invention, although the blade is caused to assume a generally curved conformation both longitudinally and transversely thereof sufficient freedom of movement of the remaining areas of the blade is provided to prevent fracture of the blade. At the same time this curvature of the blade both longitudinally and transversely thereof imparts sufficient rigidity to the blade and particularly to the cutting edge thereof as to eliminate the necessity of using a clamping plate and yet to eifectively eliminate any tendency of the cutting edge to chatter during a shaving operation. In fact, the curvature of the blade in two directions renders it of such rigidity as to be admirably suitable for the paring of corns, callouses and the like which require a cutting edge of relatively great rigidity.

The curving of the blade 24 in two directions and resulting contraction .of the slots ill makes it inadvisable to employ the customary pins conventionally employed for locating thin waferlike blades of the type employed for the present invention, as thecontraction of the slots might cause the blade to bind on the pins and cause the blade to fracture as the handle 22 is screwed home. The location of the blade 24 in the present case by interengagement of the arms I! with the notched corners 32 of the blade obviates any danger in this respect as contraction of the width of the ends of the blade draws the corners of the blade away from the arms l8.

.With regard to the degree of curvature required to obtain the benefits herein described I have found that if the blade is curved transversely it is only necessary to curve it to a small extent in a longitudinal direction to cause the edge to become extremely rigid. Thus in a preferred embodiment of the razor the surface of the holder plate adapted to receive the blade may be shaped so that th blade is curved transversely, one longitudinal cutting edge is materially curved to facilitate shaving arm pits or paring corns or callouses, and the remaining longitudinal cutting edge is very slightly curved so as to appear almost flat, for shaving comparatively flat or convex surfaces of the body.

An important feature of the present invention is that because of the absence of any clamping plate, or the equivalent, of usually accepted area between the handle and the blade, the lower or inner face of the blade is unobstructed except for the small area of the handle 22 contacting it. This is of material value particularly in connection with shaving long hairs which as is commonly known tend to clog the usual types of safety razors, and also prevents the same from being clogged when paring corns, callouses, or the like.

Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention disclosed without departing from the spirit or substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A safety razor comprising, in combination, a blade holder having an approximately rectangular face curved transversely and also longitudinally thereof, blade positioning lugs at the comers of said holder, a razor blade of waferlike thinness having a pair of parallel cutting edges and provided with longitudinal slots extending through its ends, said blade having notches at its corners so proportioned that they register with said lugs when said blade is applied to said holder, a handle having a blade engaging end, said end having a width less than one-half the narrowest Width of the blade, means threadably connecting said handle to said blade holder at substantially the center 01' said blade holder,

said end of the handle engaging the blade on the side opposite the blade holder and being the sole means engaging said blade for exerting pressure upon a small area only of said side of said blade whereby to press said blade against said holder and bend it transversely and longitudinally thereof.

2. A safety razor comprising, in combination, a blade holder having an approximately rectangular face curved transversely and also longitudinallythereot, blade positioning lugs at the corners of said holder, a razor blade of wafer-like thinness having a pair of parallel cutting edges and provided with longitudinal slots extending through its ends, said blade having notches at its corners so proportioned that they register with said lugs when said blade is applied to said 1 holder, a handle having a. blade engaging end, said end having a width less than one-half the narrowest width of the blade, means detachably connecting said-handle to said blade holder at substantially the center of said blade holder, said end ot the handle engaging the blade on the side opposite the blade holder and being the sole means engaging said blade for exerting pressure upon a small area only of said side of said blade whereby to press said blade against said holder and bend it transversely and longitudinally thereof.

LEIGHTON DUNNING. 

